Page 103 - Upper Basin News Today

The drought and diversion-challenged Colorado River serving 40 million people in the West and irrigating 5.5 million acres of farmland will undergo an operational facelift.

The Colorado River, described as the hardest working river in the West, is in trouble. The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation is actively working on a plan to save it, and users in seven states that rely on its water — including Utah — may face a day of reckoning.

Utah water officials say they’re concerned about the move, and that it will diminish the voices of Colorado River Basin states.

Water users in the overtaxed Colorado River Basin have fewer than 60 days to come up with a plan to keep 2 million to 4 million acre-feet in the system to prop up Lakes Mead and Powell, and if they can’t, the Bureau of Reclamation says it will take action.

Colorado River water managers are facing a monumental task. The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation has asked seven western states to commit to an unprecedented amount of conservation and do it before a deadline later this summer. This comes amid shrinking water levels in the nation's largest reservoirs.

While conservationists have sought to prevent the projects, water managers stress they can help states and local governments better manage increasingly

Colorado River water managers are facing a monumental task. The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation has asked seven western states to commit to an unprecedented amount of conservation and do it before a deadline later this summer. This comes amid shrinking water levels in the nation's largest reservoirs.

The federal government is telling seven states to make plans for drastically cutting water use along the Colorado River within two months.

Under federal pressure, Colorado River water managers face unprecedented call for conservation

Colorado River basin states can do more to keep Lake Mead and Lake Powell on life support, or they can balk and let the feds decide for them.